Social media is where criminals do their homework. Your posts, photos and friend lists can reveal where you live, when you are away, who your family are and the answers to your security questions. You don't need to stop posting, just post with a stranger in mind.
About 12 minutes to read30 minutes to set upBeginner
1See your profiles as a stranger does
Most people have never looked at their own profiles from the outside. Start there: it shows you exactly what a scammer, stalker or identity thief would see.
Do this
Search your full name in quotes, with your town, and look at the results and images. Repeat with your phone number and email addresses.
Open each of your profiles in a private browser window while signed out, or use the platform's “view as public” option where it has one.
Ask: could someone work out where I live, where I work, when I'm away, who my family are, or my date of birth? Could they convincingly pretend to be me?
Every major platform has a privacy checkup or privacy section. It takes a few minutes per app and is the biggest single improvement you can make.
Facebook
Settings & privacy → Privacy CheckupLimit future and past posts to Friends, hide your friend list, and restrict who can look you up by phone or email.
Instagram
Settings → Account privacyConsider a private account if you post family life. Review who can tag and mention you.
TikTok
Settings and privacy → PrivacyPrivate account, and turn off “suggest your account to others” if you don't want to be found by people who have your number.
LinkedIn
Settings → VisibilityChoose who sees your connections, email and profile photo. Keep work details useful for recruiters but not a map of your organisation.
X, Snapchat and others
Privacy and safety settingsProtect posts if you don't need a public audience, turn off location sharing (such as Snap Map), and limit who can message you.
Menu names change often. If you can't find a setting, search the app's help pages for “privacy checkup” or “private account”.
3Know what never to post
Some details are far more useful to a criminal than to your friends. Keep these out of public posts, and think twice even with friends-only audiences.
Your home address, or photos that show it: house number, street sign, the view from your window, your car's number plate in the driveway.
Real-time location and travel: “off to the airport for two weeks” tells people your home is empty. Post holiday photos after you get back.
Children's details: full names with birthdays, their school, uniform or badges, and their regular routines.
Tickets, passes and documents: boarding passes, concert tickets, ID cards, new passports and keys. Barcodes and key shapes can be copied from photos.
Security-question answers: first car, first pet, mother's maiden name, first school. Those fun “your name is your first pet plus your street” posts collect exactly these.
Long clips of your voice, or your children's, on public accounts. Short public recordings can be used to clone a voice for scam calls (see Module 4).
4Check photos and videos before you share
Phones can save the exact GPS location inside every photo and video. Big social networks usually remove it from what they show others, but files sent through messaging apps as documents, by email, through cloud links or shared on smaller sites often keep it.
Do this
Turn off location for your camera, unless you want it for your own albums: iPhone, Settings → Privacy & Security → Location Services → Camera; Android, the Camera app's settings → Location tags.
Look at the background of every photo before posting: post, letters, screens, reflections, badges and the outside of your home give a lot away.
5Control who can find, tag and contact you
Friend and follower lists: hide them. They show who your relatives are, which people-search sites and scammers use.
Tagging: turn on tag review, so posts you're tagged in need your approval before they appear on your profile, and remove old tags you don't want.
Finding you by phone or email: restrict it to friends or no one, so someone with your number can't instantly find your profile.
Friend requests: accept only people you know. If a friend you're already connected to sends a new request, their account may have been copied; check with them another way before accepting.
Messages: limit who can message you directly, and use the platform's block and report tools freely.
Talk to your household
Your exposure includes what family and friends post about you. Agree together what doesn't get shared publicly: the house, the children's school, holidays while you're away.
6Clean up the past
Years of old posts, check-ins and profiles are still out there. You don't have to delete everything, just the parts that help a stranger.
Use the platform's tool to limit all past posts to friends where offered (Facebook has one in its privacy settings).
Delete or archive old posts showing your address, children's schools, ID documents or tickets.
Close accounts you no longer use. Old profiles can be hijacked, or used to impersonate you.
Remove personal details from your bio: birthday year, phone number, home town and employer, unless you need them there.
Ask people-search sites and Google to remove your details; the Personal Exposure Audit shows how.
Check your understanding
When is the safest time to post holiday photos?
After you get home. Posting while away tells anyone watching that your home is empty.
A post invites you to share your first pet's name and the street you grew up on. What is it really collecting?
Security-question answers. Whether or not it was meant that way, the replies are a gift to anyone trying to reset your accounts.
A friend you're already connected to sends you a new friend request. What should you do?
Check first. Copied profiles are used to reach friends and family with scams. A quick text or call confirms whether it's really them.
Your checklist
Your ticks are saved only in this browser. Nothing is sent anywhere.
This module is general educational information, not professional advice, and following it cannot guarantee your information will not be found or misused. Platform settings and menu names change often; follow each platform's current help pages. Platforms are named as examples only; Rondel Group is not affiliated with them. If you are being stalked or harassed, contact local law enforcement; in an emergency, call 911.